Our Day in Court: The Brownlee Trial

At school Nicky, along with many other pupils of Edinburgh Academy, was the victim of vicious abuse from teacher John Brownlee. Nicky didn’t think Brownlee’s crimes would ever be answered, but in March 2024, they went to court. John Brownlee is 89 and was declared unfit to stand trial, instead an “examination of the facts” was held to establish the truth. Brownlee was found to have committed 31 charges of assault and assault to injury relating to incidents spanning from 1967 to 1991, as well as a composite charge of cruel unnatural treatment across the 20 years he worked at the school. Now Nicky sits down with two other survivors who gave evidence, Frazer Macdonald and Neil MacDonald, and Scottish journalist Marcello Mega. They discuss how the story of the historic abuse at Edinburgh Academy has unfolded, what it was like to be in court and the consequences of childhood abuse. WARNING: This episode contains descriptions of physical abuse, suicidal thoughts and strong language Produced by Audio Always Producer: Ailsa Rochester Editor: Jo Meek Sound: Ailsa Rochester